I dropped my backpack on the chest near the window, staring out it as I watched the locals walking by, and glancing at the woodland beyond. Wishing I had enough strength to be able to leave this sleepy little town. instead, I grab my headphones off my desk and slid them on and tap the passcode on my phone and open a music app and open it. it gave me a recommended music list so I pressed it and without even reading through which songs that were selected I let the music blast through my headphones filling my eardrums. I threw myself on my bed and glanced at my door, surely my mom wouldn’t be home from her book club for another hour.

I know being a twenty-year-old still living at home, don’t judge. Slowly I slid my hand under my mattress and pulled out a photograph I had of the girl I had a crush on. Gwen, she’s now our local journalist, I read every article she writes, whether it’s about the mysterious disappearances of kids, the strange animals that come out and greet locals, or the cutest animals people own. I read every one, it makes me feel closer to her, I never got to tell her in high school how I felt, now here I am an adult still pinning away for her.

Suddenly the music in headphones shifted into the next song, I gave pause as I listened to it more intently than before. it was in a different language, but the beat of it was still enticing, as I listened to it, I started to sing along with it, after hearing the verse of it, I started getting into it. I reached for my phone when suddenly in the middle of my room a burst of flames ignited and shot up to my ceiling, my jaw dropped, I was in shock, and I was ready to leap off my bed to the window, but as the flames died down. A creature stood there, slowly I pulled my headphones down around my neck, a man who stood at least six feet tall, I wouldn’t say man. But his posture was one, his black horns jutted out of his head on either side lining up with his dark eyebrows. His skin a dark blue, as if he was doused in blue ink, his glowing red eyes stared me down. He wore a suit only tailored to those who had money and flaunt it.

“Who dare summon me in the tongue of the old?” the demon growled showing his long canine fangs as his brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed on me.

“I . . . Uh . . .” I swallowed in my now dry throat. “didn’t mean too…” I managed to speak.

He rolled his eyes, “ah I see, a mistake? Perhaps you are tricking me, humans are tricksters. Tell me boy, why summon me here today? do you wish to make a trade for your soul?”

My voice wouldn’t come out, I was far too surprised to even respond to him. I had a demon in my room. an effing demon! And I summoned him? how? All these questions swirled in my head, what could I say? oops? My bad?

But before I could respond, one of the photos on my bed floated towards him, I tried to catch the photos, but it landed in his clawed hands. He cocked an eyebrow and stared at the photo I had taken of her, he snorted. “Is this what you want? her?”

I felt my entire face burn, “no! I don’t know how you got here, just give that back to me.” I reached for it, and he disappeared and reappeared behind me and there was a knowing smirk on his dark lips.

“Well, that is one thing I can’t do, I do not bring the dead back nor do I make others fall in love, not anymore. But what I could do is—” he looked me up and down. “Make you look slightly better so she can notice you.”

“Hey! I’m not that bad looking.” I cleared my throat. I ran my hand through my short black hair, “I’m not selling my soul to a demon to look better. not saying I don’t—”

“Boring, are humans as boring as you. You never answered my questions, boy.”

I shrugged and picked up my phone and scrolled through the playlist on my phone and found the song and held it out to him. “I heard this song and so I just sang to it.”

The demon stared at it with contempt. “Interesting . . .”

“What? You think someone purposely made this song so someone would summon you,” I don’t know how I am coping with talking with a demon that I accidently summoned.

He set the photograph on my bed and narrowed his eyes on me. “Well perhaps do not sing with a song you have no idea what it is. not only was I summoned, but you sang a bond.”

What? “Excuse me? a bond?”

With a snap of his fingers, he no longer looked demonic, but rather a normal human. He had blue eyes and blonde hair, still wearing a suit, he looked better than I did. demon or human. He straightened out his cuffs. “Well, unfortunately you summoned me and bound yourself to me. we are going to be together for a while until we can find away to break the bounds you created accidently. Until then, I can grant you anything you desire, I have stipulated rules you must follow. I don’t bring the dead back, nasty business in that. I do not make others fall in love, only turns sour like milk. I don’t make people into slaves, other than that, I am yours. Even though it gulls me to my core.”

My head felt slightly lightheaded, I had a genie, well a demon to grant any wish I want. “You’re kidding?” I backed up.

“Not in the least, you sang the song, not my fault that you sang the words of summoning and bonding to thy self.”

My eye twitches. “Well, this is going to be interesting…” I mumbled as he smiled his fanged smile at me.